Flow system for bidets

ABSTRACT

There is provided a flow system for bidets capable of feeding room-temperature raw water to a sterilizer. The flow system for bidets comprises a flow path change valve changing flow paths so that raw water flowing from a raw water supply unit flows through at least one out of a plurality of flow paths; a sterilizer coupled to an outlet side of the flow path change valve to generate nozzle-cleaning water containing an antibacterial and/or disinfectant substance from the fed raw water; a heating member coupled to the outlet side of the flow path change valve to heat the fed raw water; and a nozzle unit coupled to the sterilizer and the heating member, the nozzle unit having at least one nozzle installed therein for feeding nozzle-cleaning water or hot water. The flow system for bidets may be useful to improve the use efficiency of hot water and cold water since the raw water of adequate temperature may be feed to components of a bidet by disposing a flow path change valve in the front end of a heating member.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a flow system for bidets, and more particularly, to a flow system for bidets capable of feeding room-temperature raw water to a sterilizer.

BACKGROUND ART

In general, a washing machine generally known as a bidet is an apparatus that is integrally mounted on a seat of a toilet to wash users' anus and women's vulva with washing water sprayed through nozzles without use of toilet paper after stool. Also, the nozzles is composed of a water-jet nozzle for washing users' anus and a bidet nozzle for washing women's vulva. In this case, the bidet may be provided with a nozzle-cleaning water discharging unit for washing the water-jet nozzle and/or the bidet nozzle.

Also, the bidet has a flow path change valve mounted therein for changing flow paths to selectively provide washing water or nozzle-cleaning water to the water-jet nozzle, the bidet nozzle and nozzle-cleaning water discharging unit. Therefore, the washing water or nozzle-cleaning water is distributed and flows through each nozzle, depending on the switching operation of the flow path change valve.

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram illustrating a conventional flow system for bidets.

Referring to FIG. 1, the conventional flow system 10 for bidets includes a water input valve 11, a hot water tank 12, a flow path change valve 13, a sterilizer 17 and a nozzle unit 18. Water used for the bidet flows through the water input valve 11, and stored and heated in the hot water tank 12 to an adequate temperature. Therefore, when a user uses the bidet, hot water stored in the hot water tank 12 is fed through the nozzle unit 18.

Also, the flow path change valve 13 is coupled to the hot water tank 12 to feed the hot water fed from the hot water tank 12 to a water-jet nozzle or a bidet nozzle installed in the nozzle unit 18, or to feed the hot water to a nozzle-cleaning water discharging unit via the sterilizer 17.

For example, when a user selects a washing option, flow paths of the flow path change valve 13 are changed to spray the hot water, which is fed from the hot water tank 12, through a water-jet nozzle via the water-jet nozzle flow path 15, while when the user selects a bidet option, the flow paths of the flow path change valve 13 are changed to spray the hot water, which is fed from the hot water tank 12, through a bidet nozzle via the bidet nozzle flow path 16.

Meanwhile, when a sensor for sensing a user's behavior of taking a seat senses that the user takes a seat on the bidet, the bidet feeds hot water to the nozzle-cleaning water discharging unit via the nozzle-cleaning flow path 14 to wash the bidet nozzle and/or the water-jet nozzle. In this case, a sterilizer 17 for generating nozzle-cleaning water containing an antibacterial and/or disinfectant substance is provided in the nozzle-cleaning flow path 14 to feed nozzle-cleaning water to the nozzle-cleaning water discharging unit, thus to sterilize and wash the water-jet nozzle and/or the bidet nozzle.

For example, the sterilizer 17 may be configured so that it can electrolyze the introduced raw water to generate nozzle-cleaning water containing an antibacterial and/or disinfectant substance. The s nozzle-cleaning water thus generated in the sterilizer 17 is fed to the nozzle-cleaning water discharging unit to sterilely disinfect the water-jet nozzle and the bidet nozzle.

Unlike the above configuration, when a user selects a nozzle-cleaning option, hot water may be fed to the sterilizer 17 via the nozzle-cleaning flow path 14, and nozzle-cleaning water generated in the sterilizer 17 may be fed to the nozzle unit 18 to wash the water-jet nozzle and/or the bidet nozzle.

However, since the conventional flow system 10 for bidets has the flow path change valve 13 mounted between the hot water tank 12 and the nozzle unit 18, hot water is always fed to the water-jet nozzle, the bidet nozzle and the nozzle-cleaning water discharging unit, all of which are provided in the nozzle unit 18. Therefore, the hot water is used even when the water-jet nozzle and the bidet nozzle are cleaned, resulting in a waste of hot water.

As a result, energy used to heat raw water runs to waste since the hot water is used even when there is no need to supply the hot water, and an increase in storage capacity of the hot water tank 12 is unnecessarily required since the storage capacity of the hot water tank 12 has to be designed in consideration of the amount of hot water being unnecessarily wasted.

Also, the conventional flow system 10 for bidets has a problem in that, since the hot water is fed to the sterilizer 17, the electrolysis efficiency may be more degraded than when cold water is fed to the sterilizer 17, which leads to the loss of sterilizing efficiency of nozzle-cleaning water. That is, the conventional flow system 10 for bidets has a problem in that, since hot water is used instead of room-temperature water (or cold water) as the raw water used to generate nozzle-cleaning water containing an antibacterial and disinfectant substance, nozzle-cleaning water having a more degraded sterilizing activity is generated, compared to when the room-temperature water is used to generate nozzle-cleaning water. Therefore, the washing performances (i.e. sterilizing activity) of the nozzles may be degraded.

In the case of the conventional flow system 10 for bidets, a flow rate of water that has previously flowed in the hot water tank 12 via the water input valve 11 is controlled by the flow path change valve 13 since the flow path change valve 13 is installed in the front end of the hot water tank 12. As a result, since a negative pressure is created in the hot water tank 12, it is necessary to reinforce the strength of the hot water tank 12 so that the hot water tank 12 can withstand the negative pressure, which leads to an increase in manufacturing costs. Also, electric shock accidents may be caused due to the leakage of water caused by the negative pressure in the hot water tank 12.

DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION Technical Problem

The present invention is designed to solve some of the problems of the prior art, and therefore it is an object of the present invention to provide a flow system for bidets capable of improving the use efficiency of hot water since water of suitable temperature may be fed to bidet components.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a flow system for bidets capable of generating nozzle-cleaning water having an improved sterilizing activity, which leads to the improved washing performance of nozzles, and capable of preventing an unnecessary waste of hot water.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide a flow system for bidets capable of realizing complex flow paths while reducing the number of components thereof.

Technical Solution

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a flow system for bidets comprising a flow path change valve changing flow paths so that raw water flowing from a raw water supply unit flows through at least one flow path out of a plurality of flow paths; a sterilizer coupled to an outlet side of the flow path change valve to generate nozzle-cleaning water containing an antibacterial and/or disinfectant substance from the fed raw water; a heating member coupled to the outlet side of the flow path change valve to heat the fed raw water; and a nozzle unit coupled to the sterilizer and the heating member, the nozzle unit having at least one nozzle installed therein for feeding nozzle-cleaning water or hot water.

In this case, the flow system for bidets may further include a divergence valve disposed between the heating member and the nozzle unit so that the hot water discharged from the heating member flows through one nozzle out of a plurality of nozzles installed in the nozzle unit.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a flow system for bidets comprising a sterilizer generating nozzle-cleaning water containing an antibacterial and/or disinfectant substance; a heating member heating a raw water; a nozzle unit having at least one nozzle installed therein for feeding the nozzle-cleaning water generated in the sterilizer or the hot water heated in the heating member; and a flow path change valve coupled to an inlet side of the sterilizer and the heating member to selectively feed the raw water flowing in from the raw water supply unit to the sterilizer or the heating member, and coupled to an outlet side of the heating member to feed the hot water heated in the heating member to the nozzle unit in order to change the flow paths.

In this case, the flow path change valve may shut off the flow path coupled to the heating member when the raw water flowing in from the raw water supply unit is discharged to the sterilizer.

Also, the flow path change valve may shut off the flow path coupled to the sterilizer and may engagedly opens the flow path coupled to an inlet side and the outlet side of the heating member and the flow path coupled to the nozzle unit when the hot water is allowed to flow through the nozzle unit.

Furthermore, the nozzle unit may include a plurality of nozzles, and the flow path change valve may change the flow paths so that the hot water flowing in from the heating member can be selectively discharged through one nozzle out of the plurality of nozzles.

Also, the antibacterial and disinfectant substance may comprise mixed oxidants generated by electrolysis.

Meanwhile, the antibacterial and disinfectant substance may comprise iodine or silver oxide.

ADVANTAGEOUS EFFECTS

As described above, the flow system for bidets according to one exemplary embodiment of the present invention may be useful to improve the use efficiency of hot water since water of suitable temperature may be fed to bidet components by disposing the flow path change valve in the front end of the heating member.

Also, the flow system for bidets according to one exemplary embodiment of the present invention may be useful to generate nozzle-cleaning water having an improved sterilizing activity since room-temperature raw water rather than the hot water may be fed to the sterilizer by disposing the flow path change valve in the front end of the heating member, and thus to enhance washing performances (i.e. sterilizing activity) of the nozzles.

In addition, the flow system for bidets according to one exemplary embodiment of the present invention may be useful to prevent an unnecessary waste of hot water since room-temperature raw water is fed to the sterilizer.

Furthermore, the flow system for bidets according to one exemplary embodiment of the present invention may be useful to simplify a configuration of the flow paths and reduce the number of bidet components since a plurality of flow paths are coupled with one flow path change valve.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram illustrating a conventional flow system for bidets.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram illustrating a flow system for bidets according to one exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram illustrating a flow system for bidets according to another exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view illustrating one exemplary embodiment of the flow path change valve as shown in FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 is a plane diagram illustrating a second housing of the flow path change valve as shown in FIG. 4.

FIG. 6 shows a fixed disk of the flow path change valve as shown in FIG. 4:

(a) is a plane diagram, (b) is a bottom diagram, (c) is a cross-sectional view taken from line A-A of (a).

FIG. 7 shows a rotating disk of the flow path change valve as shown in FIG. 4:

(a) is a plane diagram, (b) is a bottom diagram, (c) is a cross-sectional view taken from line B-B of (a).

FIG. 8 is a schematic view illustrating that the fixed disk is mounted on the second housing of the flow path change valve as shown in FIG. 4.

FIGS. 9 to 12 are schematic views sequentially illustrating steps of rotating the rotating disk mounted on the fixed disk as shown in FIG. 8. Here, FIG. 9 shows a position of the rotating disk at the beginning, FIG. 10 shows a position of the rotating disk during a nozzle-cleaning option, FIG. 11 shows a position of the rotating disk when raw water is sprayed at the beginning of the washing option, and FIG. 12 shows a position of the rotating disk when raw water is sprayed to the maximum during the washing option.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail, with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram illustrating a flow system for bidets according to one exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 2, the flow system 300 for bidets according to one exemplary embodiment of the present invention includes a flow path change valve 320, a sterilizer 340, a heating member 360, a divergence valve 370 and a nozzle unit 380.

Raw water, which is fed from a raw water supply unit 310 provided with valves to control the supply of the raw water, flows into the flow path change valve 320 through a raw water input flow path 315. Then, room-temperature raw water from the raw water supply unit 310 flows into the flow path change valve 320.

Also, the flow path change valve 320 changes flow paths so that the introduced water can flow through at least one flow path out of a plurality of flow paths that are disposed in an outlet side of the flow path change valve 320. That is, the flow path change valve 320 has a plurality of outlets (not shown), and discharges the introduced raw water through at least one outlet out of the plurality of outlets.

Then, the sterilizer 340 is coupled to the outlet side of the flow path change valve 320 via a nozzle-cleaning flow path 325, and therefore room-temperature raw water is fed from the flow path change valve 320 to the sterilizer 340. The sterilizer 340 generates nozzle-cleaning water containing an antibacterial and/or disinfectant substance from raw water, which is fed to the nozzle-cleaning water discharging unit 381 via a nozzle-cleaning water supply flow path 345, so that the raw water can have a sterilizing activity, and washes at least one nozzle installed in the nozzle unit 380 with the nozzle-cleaning water.

When the sterilizer 340 may be used to generate nozzle-cleaning water containing an antibacterial and/or disinfectant substance, there is no particular limitation on the kinds and structures of the sterilize 340. For example, the sterilize 340 may be configured so that it can generate a variety of mixed oxidants having a sterilizing activity, such as hypochlorous acid (HOCl), hypochlorite ion (OCL⁻), chlorine (Cl₂), and other antibacterial and/or disinfectant ions or free radicals. Here, the mixed oxidants may be generated by electrolysis in water while the water is being passed between electrodes having different polarities. In this case, the mixed oxidants function as the antibacterial and/or disinfectant substance. Meanwhile, the sterilizer 340 may be configured as an apparatus for discharging a constant amount of the antibacterial and/or disinfectant substance such as iodine or silver oxide.

Also, the heating member 360 is coupled to an outlet side of the flow path change valve 320 through a heated raw water supply flow path 330, and the room-temperature raw water discharged from the flow path change valve 320 is fed to the heating member 360. Then, an outlet side of the heating member 360 is coupled with the nozzle unit 380 through a hot water supply flow path 365. Such a heating member 360 may be composed of a hot water tank for heating and storing water flowing therein, but the present invention is not particularly limited thereto. Also, the heating member 360 may be composed of an instantaneous water heater for instantaneously heating introduced water while flowing therethrough. Therefore, when a user selects a washing option or a bidet option, the hot water heated in the heating member 360 is sprayed through the nozzle unit 380.

Also, the nozzle unit 380 may be provided with a water-jet nozzle 382 for washing users' anus and a bidet nozzle 383 for washing women's vulva, etc. Here, a nozzle-cleaning water discharging unit 381 for washing the water-jet nozzle 382 and/or the bidet nozzle 383 may be further installed in the nozzle unit 380.

When the nozzle unit 380 is composed of a plurality of nozzles as described above, a divergence valve 370 may be provided so that the hot water discharged from the heating member 360 can be fed through only one nozzle installed in the nozzle unit 380. Such a divergence valve 370 is coupled to the heating member 360 through the hot water supply flow path 365 to receive the hot water discharged from the heating member 360 and selectively feed the received hot water to the water-jet nozzle 382 or the bidet nozzle 383 through one flow path out of a water-jet nozzle flow path 375 a and a bidet nozzle flow path 375 b.

The flow path change valve 320, which is provided in the flow system 300 for bidets as shown above in FIG. 2, is disposed in the front ends of the sterilizer 340 and heating member 360 to selectively feed the introduced room-temperature raw water to one of the sterilizer 340 and the heating member 360.

That is to say, when the hot water is used in the nozzle unit 380, the flow path change valve 320 changes the flow paths so that the raw water can flow only into the heating member 360. Then, the hot water discharged from the heating member 360 is separated by the divergence valve 370. In this case, the separated hot water is fed and sprayed toward the water-jet nozzle 382 or the bidet nozzle 383 through one flow path out of the water-jet nozzle flow path 375 a and the bidet nozzle flow path 375 b. Also, when the water-jet nozzle 382 or the bidet nozzle 383 must be washed while being sterilized, the flow path change valve 320 changes the flow paths so that the room-temperature raw water can flow only into the sterilizer 340. In this case, the nozzle-cleaning water generated in the sterilizer 340 is fed to the nozzle-cleaning water discharging unit 381 through the nozzle-cleaning water supply flow path 345, thus to wash the nozzles.

Meanwhile, since conventional flow path change valves may be used as the flow path change valve 320 and the divergence valve 370 used in the flow system 300 for bidets as shown in FIG. 2, their detailed descriptions are omitted for clarity.

As described above, in accordance with the flow system 300 for bidets according to one exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the flow path change valve 320 is disposed in the front ends of the sterilizer 340 and heating member 360. Therefore, since the room-temperature raw water flows into the sterilizer 340, it is possible to prevent a waste of energy consumed by the unnecessary heating of water, thus to reduce the storage capacity of hot water in the heating member 360.

That is, since the hot water is fed to the sterilizer in the conventional flow system for bidets as shown in FIG. 1, an unnecessary loss in energy is caused and an increase in storage capacity of the hot water tank is required according to the amount of water fed to the sterilizer. However, the flow system 300 for bidets according to one exemplary embodiment of the present invention, as shown in FIG. 2, may be applied to solve the problems in the prior art since the room-temperature raw water flows into the sterilizer 340.

Also, since the flow system 300 for bidets according to one exemplary embodiment of the present invention may directly feed the room-temperature raw water to the sterilizer 340, the sterilizer 340 may generate nozzle-cleaning water having an improved sterilizing activity. Therefore, it is possible to improve the washing performances (i.e. sterilizing activity) of the nozzles.

FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram illustrating a flow system for bidets according to another exemplary embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 3, the flow system 400 for bidets includes a flow path change valve 100, a sterilizer 440, a heating member 460 and a nozzle unit 480.

Raw water fed from the raw water supply unit 410 flows into the flow path change valve 100 through a raw water input flow path 415 and a raw water inlet 111 a. Then, room-temperature raw water from the raw water supply unit 410 flows into the flow path change valve 100.

Also, the flow path change valve 100 changes flow paths so that the introduced water can flow through at least one flow path out of a plurality of flow paths installed in an outlet side of the flow path change valve 100. That is, the flow path change valve 100 is provided with a plurality of inlets 111 a and 121 a, and a plurality of outlets 122 a, 123 a, 125 a and 126 a. Here, the introduced raw water is discharged from each of the inlets 111 a and 121 a to at least one outlet out of the plurality of outlets 122 a, 123 a, 125 a and 126 a.

In addition, the sterilizer 440 is coupled to a nozzle-cleaning water outlet 122 a of the flow path change valve 100 through a nozzle-cleaning flow path 425. Accordingly, the room-temperature raw water is fed from the flow path change valve 100 to the sterilizer 440. The sterilizer 440 generates nozzle-cleaning water containing an antibacterial and/or disinfectant substance from the raw water fed to the nozzle-cleaning water discharging unit 481 so that the raw water can have a sterilizing activity, and washes at least one nozzle installed in the nozzle unit 480 with the nozzle-cleaning water. An apparatus for generating water having a sterilizing activity by the electrolysis may be used as the sterilizer 440.

Also, the heating member 460 is coupled to a raw water outlet 123 a of the flow path change valve 100 through the heated raw water supply flow path 430, and an outlet side of the heating member 460 is coupled to a hot water inlet 121 a of the flow path change valve 100 through the hot water supply flow path 450. As a result, the room-temperature raw water discharged from the raw water outlet 123 a of the flow path change valve 100 is fed and heated into the heating member 460, and the hot water heated in the heating member 460 is re-fed to the flow path change valve 100 through the hot water inlet 121 a. Such a heating member 460 may be composed of a hot water tank for heating and storing water flowing therein, but the present invention is not particularly limited thereto. Also, the heating member 460 may be composed of an instantaneous water heater for instantaneously heating introduced water while flowing therethrough. Therefore, when a user selects a washing option or a bidet option, the hot water heated in the heating member 460 re-flows into the flow path change valve 100, and is sprayed through the nozzle unit 480.

Also, the nozzle unit 480 may be provided with a water-jet nozzle 482 for washing users' anus and a bidet nozzle 483 for washing women's vulva, etc. Here, a nozzle-cleaning water discharging unit 481 for washing the water-jet nozzle 482 and/or the bidet nozzle 483 may be further installed in the nozzle unit 480.

When the nozzle unit 480 is composed of a plurality of nozzles as described above, it is necessary to feed the hot water, which is heated in the heating member 460 and re-flows into the flow path change valve 100, to one nozzle installed in the nozzle unit 480.

For this purpose, the flow path change valve 100 changes the flow paths to selectively feed the hot water, which is heated in the heating member 460 and re-flows into the flow path change valve 100, to the water-jet nozzle 482 or the bidet nozzle 483 through one flow path out of a water-jet nozzle flow path 465 and a bidet nozzle flow path 470.

The flow path change valve 100, which is provided in the flow system 400 for bidets as shown above in FIG. 3, is disposed in the front ends of the sterilizer 440 and heating member 460 to selectively feed the introduced room-temperature raw water to one of the sterilizer 440 and the heating member 460.

That is to say, when the hot water is used in the nozzle unit 480, the flow path change valve 100 changes the flow paths so that the raw water can flow only into the heating member 460. Then, the hot water discharged from the heating member 460 is re-separated inside the flow path change valve 100. In this case, the separated hot water is fed and sprayed toward the water-jet nozzle 482 or the bidet nozzle 483 through one flow path out of the water-jet nozzle flow path 465 and the bidet nozzle flow path 470. Also, when the water-jet nozzle 482 or the bidet nozzle 483 must be washed while being sterilized, the flow path change valve 100 changes the flow paths so that the room-temperature raw water can flow only into the sterilizer 440. In this case, the nozzle-cleaning water generated in the sterilizer 440 is fed to the nozzle-cleaning water discharging unit 481 through a nozzle-cleaning water supply flow path 425, thus to wash the nozzles.

An operation of the flow system 400 for bidets as shown in FIG. 3 is now described in more detail.

When water is required to perform a nozzle-cleaning option or bidet/washing options, the raw water supply unit 410 is opened, and the room-temperature raw water fed from the raw water supply unit 410 flows into the flow path change valve 100 through the raw water inlet 111 a.

In this case, when water is required to perform the nozzle-cleaning option, the flow path change valve 100 shuts off the heated raw water supply flow path 430, the hot water supply flow path 450, the water-jet nozzle flow path 465 and the bidet nozzle flow path 470, and opens only the nozzle-cleaning water supply flow path 425. Accordingly, the room-temperature raw water discharged from the nozzle-cleaning water outlet 122 a of the flow path change valve 100 flows into the sterilizer 440, and the nozzle-cleaning water containing an antibacterial and/or disinfectant substance generated in the sterilizer 440 is discharged through the nozzle-cleaning water discharging unit 481 to perform the sterile washing of the water-jet nozzle 482 and/or the bidet nozzle 483.

Also, when the washing option or the bidet option is performed in the water-jet nozzle 482 or the bidet nozzle 483, the flow path change valve 100 shuts off the nozzle-cleaning water supply flow path 425, and opens the heated raw water supply flow path 430, the hot water supply flow path 450, the water-jet nozzle flow path 460 and the bidet nozzle flow path 470.

As a result, the room-temperature raw water discharged through the raw water outlet 123 a of the flow path change valve 100 flows and is heated in the heating member 460, and the heated hot water re-flows into the flow path change valve 100 through the hot water inlet 121 a. Then, the hot water flowing into the flow path change valve 100 is sprayed toward the water-jet nozzle 482 or bidet nozzle 483 of the nozzle unit 480. In this case, the flow paths are formed in the flow path change valve 100 to separate the hot water flowing through the hot water inlet 121 a in both directions thereof, thus to spray the hot water toward only one nozzle out of the water-jet nozzle 482 and the bidet nozzle 483.

One exemplary embodiment of the flow path change valve 100 used in the flow system 400 for bidets is now described in more detail with reference to the accompanying FIGS. 3 to 12.

FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view illustrating one exemplary embodiment of the flow path change valve as shown in FIG. 3, FIG. 5 is a plane diagram illustrating a second housing of the flow path change valve as shown in FIG. 4, and FIG. 6 shows a fixed disk of the flow path change valve as shown in FIG. 4: (a) is a plane diagram, (b) is a bottom diagram, (c) is a cross-sectional view taken from line A-A of (a). Also, FIG. 7 shows a rotating disk of the flow path change valve as shown in FIG. 4: (a) is a plane diagram, (b) is a bottom diagram, (c) is a cross-sectional view taken from line B-B of (a), FIG. 8 is a schematic view illustrating that the fixed disk is mounted on the second housing of the flow path change valve as shown in FIG. 4, and FIGS. 9 to 12 are schematic views sequentially illustrating steps of rotating the rotating disk mounted on the fixed disk as shown in FIG. 8.

Referring to FIG. 4, the flow path change valve 100 used in the flow system 400 for bidets includes a valve housing 130 having a first housing 110 and a second housing 120 both of which are integrally formed with each other, a fixed disk 210 fixedly installed in the valve housing 130, and a rotating disk 220 installed to come in contact with an upper surface of the fixed disk 220, the rotating disk 220 being installed to be rotated by a rotation drive means such as a motor 150. Also, the flow path change valve 100 further includes a plurality of inlets 111 a and 121 a and a plurality of outlets 122 a, 123 a, 125 a and 126 a.

Referring to FIGS. 4 and 5, the valve housing 130 includes a raw water input portion 111 communicating with the raw water supply unit 410; a nozzle-cleaning water supply unit 122 and a heated raw water supply unit 123 selectively communicating with the raw water input portion 111 to selectively feed water flowing into the raw water input portion 111 to the nozzle-cleaning water discharging unit 481 or the heating member 460; a hot water input portion 121 through which the water passed through the heating member 460 flows; and a washing water supply unit 125 and a bidet water supply unit 126 selectively communicating with the hot water input portion 121 to selectively feed the water flowing into the hot water input portion 121 to the water-jet nozzle 482 or the bidet nozzle 483, all of which are dividedly formed in the valve housing 130.

In this case, the valve housing 130 may be formed by separately forming a first housing 110 and a second housing 120 and coupling the first housing 110 and the second housing 120 to their coupling holes 118 and 128 by using a coupling unit (not shown) such as a screw, wherein the first housing 110 is disposed on the rotating disk 220 and has the raw water input portion 111 formed therein; and the second housing 120 is disposed beneath of the fixed disk 210 and has the hot water input portion 121, the nozzle-cleaning water supply unit 122, the heated raw water supply unit 123, the washing water supply unit 125 and the bidet water supply unit 126 dividedly formed therein. In order to seal a space between the first housing 110 and the second housing 120, a sealer 140 such as an O-ring may be installed in an anchoring groove 129 provided in the second housing 120.

When seen from the top, the second housing 120 may also be configured so that it can have a hot water input portion 121 formed in the center thereof; a nozzle-cleaning water supply unit 122 formed in an upper side thereof; a washing water supply unit 125 and a bidet water supply unit 126 formed respectively in both side of the nozzle-cleaning water supply unit 122; and a heated raw water supply unit 123 formed opposite to the nozzle-cleaning water supply unit 122.

Referring FIGS. 4 and 6, the fixed disk 210 is fixedly installed in the top of the second housing 120, and includes a plurality of communication holes 211, 212, 213′, 213 a, 214′, 214 a, 215 a and 216 a that communicate with the hot water input portion 121, the nozzle-cleaning water supply unit 122, the heated raw water supply unit 123, the washing water supply unit 125 and the bidet water supply unit 126, respectively.

Referring to FIGS. 4, 7 and 8, the rotating disk 220 is rotationally installed in the top of the fixed disk 210, and as the rotating disk 220 rotates on the fixed disk 210, the raw water input portion 111 is selectively coupled with one out of the nozzle-cleaning water supply unit 122 and the heated raw water supply unit 123, or the hot water input portion 121 is selectively coupled with one out of the washing water supply unit 125 and the bidet water supply unit 126. In this case, as the rotating disk 220 rotates, some of the plurality of communication holes 211, 212, 213′, 213 a, 214′, 214 a, 215 a and 216 a may communicate with each other, or at least one out of the plurality of communication holes 211, 212, 213′, 213 a, 214′, 214 a, 215 a and 216 a may communicate with the raw water input portion 111 formed on the rotating disk 220.

For this purpose, the rotating disk 220 may include selection holes 221, 222 and 223 formed therethrough so that the raw water input portion 111 can be selectively coupled with one out of the communication holes 212, 213′, 213 a, 214′ and 214 a that communicate respectively with the heated raw water supply unit 123 and the nozzle-cleaning water supply unit 122; and a guide groove 226 formed in the bottom surface thereof so that the communication hole 211 communicating with the hot water input portion 121 can be selectively coupled with one out of the communication holes 125 a and 126 a that communicate respectively with the washing water supply unit 125 and the bidet water supply unit 126.

The guide groove 226 may include a center groove 224 disposed on the communication hole 211 communicating with the hot water input portion 121; and an extended groove 225 extending from the center groove 224 to an upper portion of each of the communication holes 125 a and 126 a that communicate respectively with washing water supply unit 125 and the bidet water supply unit 126.

In accordance with the above-mentioned configurations of the fixed disk 210 that is fixedly installed in the second housing 120 and the rotating disk 220 that rotates on the fixed disk 210, the nozzle-cleaning water supply unit 122 communicates with the raw water input portion 111 by the selective coupling of the communication hole 212 of the fixed disk 210 with the selection holes 221 and 222 of the rotating disk 220. Therefore, the nozzle-cleaning water supply unit 122 receives water flowing from the raw water input portion 111, and discharges the received water through the nozzle-cleaning water outlet 122 a.

Also, the heated raw water supply unit 123 communicates with the raw water input portion 111 by the selective coupling of the communication holes 213′, 213 a, 214′ and 214 a of the fixed disk 210 with the selection hole 223 of the rotating disk 220. Therefore, the heated raw water supply unit 123 receives water flowing from the raw water input portion 111, and discharges the received water through the raw water outlet 123 a.

In addition, the washing water supply unit 125 and the bidet water supply unit 126 communicate with the hot water input portion 121 by the selective coupling of the communication holes 215 a and 216 a of the fixed disk 210 with the selection holes 221 and 222 of the rotating disk 220. Therefore, the washing water supply unit 125 and the bidet water supply unit 126 receive water flowing from the hot water input portion 121, and discharge the received water through the washing water supply hole 125 a and the bidet water supply hole 126 a.

That is, the hot water flowing into the hot water input portion 121 is fed to the water-jet nozzle 482 through the washing water supply hole 125 a and the washing water supply line 465 and sprayed through the water-jet nozzle 482, or is fed to the bidet nozzle 483 through the bidet water supply hole 126 a and the bidet water supply line 470 and sprayed through the bidet nozzle 483.

When the flow path change valve 100 as shown in FIGS. 4 to 8 is used for bidets as described above, it is advantageous to simplify complex flow paths, thus to reduce the number of required valves.

An operation of the flow path change valve 100 is described in more detail with reference to FIG. 3 and FIGS. 9 to 12.

FIG. 9 shows a position of the rotating disk 220 at the beginning of the operation of the flow path change valve 100. As shown in FIG. 9, the selection holes 221, 222 and 223 or the guide groove 226 that are formed in the rotating disk 200 do not communicate with the communication holes 211, 212, 213′, 213 a, 214′, 214 a, 215 a and 216 a formed in the fixed disk 210 at the beginning. As a result, water does not flow at this point since the flow paths are shut off.

When a user uses a bidet, for example, selects a washing option in this circumstance, the rotating disk 220 rotates counterclockwise by the drive of the motor 150, as shown in FIG. 10, thus to perform the nozzle-cleaning option. That is, the communication hole 212 of the fixed disk 210 is matched with the selection hole 222 of the rotating disk 220 to allow raw water to flow from the raw water input portion 111, which is formed in the first housing 110 on the rotating disk 220, to the nozzle-cleaning water supply unit 122. In this case, the raw water flowing into the nozzle-cleaning water supply unit 122 is fed to the nozzle-cleaning water discharging unit 481 through the nozzle-cleaning water outlet 122 a and the sterilizer 440 to sterilize and wash the water-jet nozzle 482 and/or the bidet nozzle 483. Meanwhile, the other selection holes 221 and 223 of the rotating disk 220 and the guide groove 226 are closed by an upper surface of the fixed disk 210, as shown in FIG. 10. Therefore, no flow path except for the nozzle-cleaning water supply flow path is formed.

Then, the rotating disk 220 is further rotated counterclockwise in order to feed water to the water-jet nozzle 482, as shown in FIG. 11. As a result, the selection hole 223 of the rotating disk 220 communicates with a communication hole 214′ of the fixed disk 210 and a communication hole 214 a, which is coupled to a groove 214, and the guide groove 226 of the rotating disk 220 couples the communication hole 211, which communicates with the hot water input portion 121, with a communication hole 215 a coupled to a groove 215.

In this case, since the communication hole 214′ and/or the communication hole 214 a communicate with the selection hole 223, the raw water flowing into the raw water input portion 111 moves to the heated raw water supply unit 123, and then flows to the heating member 460 through the raw water outlet 123 a. Then, the introduced raw water is heated in the heating member 460, and re-flows to the hot water input portion 121 through the hot water inlet 121 a. Then, the hot water, which flows sequentially through the communication hole 211 of the fixed disk 210, the center groove 224 and the extended groove 225 of the guide groove 226 all of which are formed in a lower surface of the rotating disk 220, flows into the washing water supply unit 125 through the communication hole 215 a coupled to the groove 215 of the fixed disk 210, and is fed to the water-jet nozzle 482 through the washing water supply hole 125 a and sprayed through the water-jet nozzle 482.

In this case, right after the raw water flowing from the raw water input portion 111 is transferred to the heated raw water supply unit 123 and discharged toward the heating member 440, the hot water heated in the heating member 440 flows into the hot water input portion 121, and is then fed to the water-jet nozzle 481 through the washing water supply unit 125.

Meanwhile, in order to spray an increasing amount of washing water with the rotation of the rotating disk 210, the groove 214 coupled with the communication hole 214 a may be formed in such a manner that the groove 214 has an increasing width as it goes from one end to the other end.

As shown in FIG. 12, when the groove 214 goes to the widest width as the rotating disk 220 is further rotated, a spraying amount of the washing water reaches the maximum limit. Therefore, it is possible to adjust the amount and intensity of the sprayed washing water by adjusting the rotation rate (rotation angle) of the rotating disk 220.

When the rotating disk 220 is rotated clockwise after the washing option, the rotating disk 220 passes by a position of the nozzle-cleaning option as shown in FIG. 10, and then returns to an original position as shown in FIG. 9.

Meanwhile, the rotating disk 220 of FIG. 9 is rotated clockwise from an initial position thereof in order to perform a bidet option. When the rotating disk 220 is rotated clockwise, a specific operation of the rotating disk 220 is substantially identical to the washing option, except that the communication hole 212 of the fixed disk 210 is matched with the selection hole 221 of the rotating disk 220 to perform a nozzle-cleaning option. Therefore, the specific operation of the rotating disk 220 is omitted for clarity.

The flow path change valve 100 as shown in FIGS. 4 to 12 corresponds to one exemplary embodiment of the flow path change valve that is applicable to the flow system 400 for bidets as shown in FIG. 3. Here, when the flow path change valve 100 may be used to realize the flow system 400 for bidets as shown in FIG. 3, there is no particular limitation on an internal configuration of the flow path change valve 100.

As described above, the flow system 400 for bidets according to one exemplary embodiment of the present invention may be useful to prevent the loss of energy caused by the unnecessary heating of raw water since the flow path change valve 100 may be disposed in the front ends of the sterilizer 440 and the heating member 460 to feed room-temperature raw water to the sterilizer 440, and thus to reduce the storage capacity of hot water in the heating member 460.

Also, the flow system 400 for bidets according to one exemplary embodiment of the present invention may be useful to improve the washing performances (i.e. sterilizing activity) of the nozzles since the nozzle-cleaning water having an improved sterilizing activity may be generated in the sterilizer 440 by directly feeding room-temperature raw water to the sterilizer 440.

Furthermore, the flow system 400 for bidets according to one exemplary embodiment of the present invention may be useful to reduce the number of bidet components to simplify a configuration of the complex flow paths since the flow path change valve 100 is provided with a plurality of inlets and a plurality of outlets.

As described above, the exemplary embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail referring to the accompanying drawings. However, it should be understood that the description proposed herein is just a preferable example for the purpose of illustrations only, not intended to limit the scope of the invention, so it should be understood that other equivalents and modifications could be made thereto without departing from the scope of the invention. 

1. A flow system for bidets, comprising: a flow path change valve changing flow paths so that raw water flowing from a raw water supply unit flows through at least one flow path out of a plurality of flow paths; a sterilizer coupled to an outlet side of the flow path change valve to generate nozzle-cleaning water containing an antibacterial and disinfectant substance from the fed raw water; a heating member coupled to the outlet side of the flow path change valve to heat the fed raw water; and a nozzle unit coupled to the sterilizer and the heating member, the nozzle unit having at least one nozzle installed therein for feeding nozzle-cleaning water or hot water.
 2. The flow system for bidets of claim 1, further comprising a divergence valve disposed between the heating member and the nozzle unit so that the hot water discharged from the heating member flows through one nozzle out of a plurality of nozzles installed in the nozzle unit.
 3. A flow system for bidets, comprising: a sterilizer generating nozzle-cleaning water containing an antibacterial and disinfectant substance; a heating member heating a raw water; a nozzle unit having at least one nozzle installed therein for feeding the nozzle-cleaning water generated in the sterilizer or hot water heated in the heating member; and a flow path change valve coupled to an inlet side of the sterilizer and the heating member to selectively feed the raw water flowing in from the raw water supply unit to the sterilizer or the heating member, and coupled to an outlet side of the heating member to feed the hot water heated in the heating member to the nozzle unit in order to change the flow paths.
 4. The flow system for bidets of claim 1, wherein the flow path change valve shuts off the flow path coupled to the heating member when the raw water flowing in from the raw water supply unit is discharged to the sterilizer.
 5. The flow system for bidets of claim 3, wherein the flow path change valve shuts off the flow path coupled to the sterilizer and engagedly opens the flow path coupled to an inlet side and the outlet side of the heating member and the flow path coupled to the nozzle unit when the hot water is allowed to flow through the nozzle unit.
 6. The flow system for bidets of claim 5, wherein the nozzle unit comprises a plurality of nozzles, and the flow path change valve changes the flow paths so that the hot water flowing in from the heating member is selectively discharged through one nozzle out of the plurality of nozzles.
 7. The flow system for bidets of claim 1, wherein the antibacterial and disinfectant substance comprises mixed oxidants generated by electrolysis.
 8. The flow system for bidets of claim 1, wherein the antibacterial and disinfectant substance comprises iodine or silver oxide.
 9. The flow system for bidets of claim 3, wherein the flow path change valve shuts off the flow path coupled to the heating member when the raw water flowing in from the raw water supply unit is discharged to the sterilizer.
 10. The flow system for bidets of claim 3, wherein the antibacterial and disinfectant substance comprises mixed oxidants generated by electrolysis.
 11. The flow system for bidets of claim 3, wherein the antibacterial and disinfectant substance comprises iodine or silver oxide. 